“Are you saying this thing could have eaten my friend?” He scanned the group, waiting for one o them to answer his question.

The leader reluctantly spoke up.

“It is a possibility, but I doubt it. Truthfully, we are confident that he isn’t eating them due to the large flux of abyssal energy we feel coming from the throne room. It is much too strong for even him to produce.”

Egosum felt waves of energy radiate from his Qi core.

The air shimmered in its presence and all of the frogs present tensed slightly, gazing around in search of the unknown pressures cause.

He called the energy under control and watched them calm down.

“Let’s hope you are correct. I am sure I could do much worse things to the baron than death if I really have to put my mind to it.”

The leader smiled slightly.

“Noone here would think less of you.”

A large rumble shook the walls.

The group of frogs froze as they felt for something he couldn’t comprehend.

“Ek Bahlam is ending the gathering early. Exceedingly early.”

“Could he know of our meeting?”

“What will come of us?”

“What do we do?”

“Silence!” The leader ended the paranoia before it could spread further.

“He knows nothing of this. He is not some omnipotent demigod like our people believe and you all know that. I will find out the answer soon.”

He hopped past Egosum and his guide.

“How will we meet up again? I can’t traverse the abyss.”

The frog turned to the cowering frog using the toad as cover.

“I ask that you stay close to him. It will be easy to reach you if we can follow your call. Someone will always be listening. You may consider yourself a member of the Scar” He turned to leave once more.

“My name is Moctezuma. May our joining be fruitful.”

The group followed after their leader as the rumbling finally began to fade away.

“That guy was intense. I can’t believe he actually gave me a job.”

Egosum watched them disappear into one of the many doors.

“Let’s just hope my friend is alright.” He let go of a sigh he had been holding onto. “Now, I want to leave.”

They traversed the capital with Tecolotl gushing about their wounds and his new position as an honorary Scar. Despite trying to point out the terror they had inflicted on him with their sheer presence, he seemed content to conveniently ignore the criticisms as they came.

The journey through the abyss was only slightly less nerve wracking for the toad.

By the time they resurfaced, the sun was already falling below the horizon.

The last vestiges of sunlight disappearing before their very eyes.

“I might have struck out with the ladies but at least I am part of a secret organization.” Tecolotl spoke aloud, more to himself than Egosum or the startled salamander.

“And you didn’t even ask them how they hid their scars. You are way more comfortable than with yourself than I was expecting.”

He could see the joy drain from the frog.

“I didn't... I didn’t think of that.” He swore he could see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes. The black pits glistened under the fading light.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I don’t see Coyotl and you guys aren’t making much sense.” Cinera looked between the pair with confusion blatant across ger face.

They walked back to their little village, leaving the smaller creature to skulk in his newfound depression.

He caught her up to the new developments before they headed into their shacks for the night.

Egosum dropped to the sphagnum and let his eyes shut the world out.

-

“The prodigal amphibian has made its return!” The familiar voice welcomed him to his Qi core’s vibrant surroundings.

“Hello to you too, Pengu.” He lifted himself up and bathed in the small dimension’s glory.

“This place has gotten a lot better since you entered the permeation realm. I’d say you are already knocking on the second layer thanks to the quantity alone.”

He believed it too. The sheer enormity of his reserves had apparently carried him for a long time if the Celestial Demon was anyone to listen to.

An average initiate would barely have enough Qi to power a spell, let alone control multiple human lengths in all directions.

“What will I need to do to get into the next layer? I know you said it wouldn’t be as bad as the foundational concepts, but how much better can it really be?”

He earned a small laugh from the patch of dirt.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Everyone tends to think that. The reality is much more kind for once. I would say that every layer in the foundation realm is akin to a less severe of version of what you will deal with as you climb realms, not layers.”

‘Finally good news.’

“So, how do I start familiarizing myself with the process?”

Warm winds blew across the humid swamp, swaying the herbs and various grasses with ease.

“It's simple, just start viewing your core as a core and not only a space.”

Egosum thought back to the intense feeling of his core during its peak use.

It was painfully obvious to himself in the moment that it was a physical object while also containing a mental aspect.

The issue he ran into was that realization was less fundamental and more surface level

He understood what it meant but he didn’t know how to act on that information.

“Is this some more introspection shit or something” Memories from grinding his way through the foundation realm had never left him. It had only been quiet recently that he had left the realm for good.

The annoying giggle of the ancient being filled the core.

“You guessed it. Instead of always coming to this little slice of paradise all the time, I want you to try and enter the null space just outside of it. I am sure you can do its with a little bit of trial and error.”

It was obvious that he wouldn’t let this stop him but to say he was lost was an understatement.

“How do you expect me to start if I don’t have a point to jump from?”

“You’ve seen it before. You just need to remember.”

The familiar voice faded away and the spot on the ground lost the glow that accompanied him.

“Great. When did I see this last?”

His mind went to work, picking through the various fights, introspective lessons, and apifanies.

Dead end after dead end finally led him to the source.

Pengu was right.

He almost wanted to curse the stupid piece of dirt.

A distant memory of when he was innocent enough to dissociate his Qi domain from the physical plane was far removed from him now despite how recent ittruly was.

“I don’t even really remember what I was doing.”

‘This might be work for the waking world.’

With the decision made, he enjoyed the paradise around him.

It was intensely therapeutic when he didn’t need to beat himself silly for some twisted training.

The permanent overcast bobbed and weaved to ensure the sun never truly shined on the rich mud. The ability of the burning object high in the sky was legendary for sucking every bit of life from his kind.

It was the kind of story that haunted some of the most impressionable of the spawn back in the eternal vernal pools.

He had never truly bought into it. Afterall, when would one of his kind be so far removed from the swamp that the land could be baked of its moisture?

The respect for its power and the answer to his question came only slightly longer than a week before in the desert’s midday sun.

His musings ended as the world shook.

-

He pushed himself up and out of his hut. The moon was still standing just above the horizon but was quickly losing the battle of attrition.

Warm floods of mana poured over the landscape as the very first rays of light cut through the early morning fog.

Every bit of cooling mana retreated to the shadows and unseen cubbies under the sun’s might.

The morning was finally upon them.

He immediately went to work, shaping and shifting the ground to his whims. With every repetition, his actions became cleaner and devoid of the habits that came along with rapid morphing.

The dome he called home slowly turned into something that was ever so slightly less embarrassing.

“Oh wow. You have been busy, aren’t you?” Cinera waddled over with her ushanka clasped under her chin.

“Yep. I thought I should do something to keep my mind off of the problem at hand. With that said, I wanted to work with you on something.”

She quirked her brow in interest.

“I know our powers don’t mesh well together but I have been wanting to find ways to synergize together. Everything up to this point has been a competition and I feel like if those frogs are right then we need to get better fighting together.”

Her lips turned up slightly.

“I am always down for some magical experimentation.”

-

The Queen was having a rough day.

First, news of a hilarious group of dancers went missing in the north and then the march on the southern elves had gone horribly.

She couldn’t fathom how their people could be so thoroughly outmatched by a bunch of useless elves when they had the full might of human ingenuity and dwarven craftsmanship on their side.

Afte that idiot's estate had been blown to smithereens in a wonderful show of pyrotechnics, she was all but certain that conquest was a sure thing.

She spit into a golden pot near her feet, an old habit from the streets that was hard forgotten.

The attendants didn’t even flinch as she rapidly stood from the thrown and stormed to her closet.

A rain of clothes flew behind her as she looked for just the right piece to calm her nerves.

“Aw.” She froze before reaching into the wardrobe. “Perfect.”

A small formfitting waistcoat that hugged her delicate curves.

“Come help me.” Her quiet voice filled the massive bedroom.

Three servants rushed to her side, buttoning the garment up and straightening the trailing tails.

“Hmm, do I look good?” She turned to the elderly woman that she employed for just this purpose.

Her hunched over figure shuffled forward and smoothed the wrinkled blouse under the waistcoat.

“You look wonderful dear. I am so proud of you.” The onlookers stared straight into oblivion while the Queen played house with the hired grandparent.

She blushed for a moment before putting on a bright smile.

“Thanks granny!” She turned to the door and left the room.

Everyone present got to work cleaning the mess up and getting it ready for when she retired for the night.

The old woman collapsed where she stood, droplets of sweat falling from her face.

“What shall I do today?”

“Your highness, there is an urgent point of concern.”

The queen stopped mid stride.

“I believe I told you that I wanted to be left alone today.”

She could hear the man gulp behind her before she sighed.

“What is it?”

“The explosives sent out to destroy the Ent factories had been sabotaged before they even made it halfway there. We are still investigating the culprit.”

The air flooded with energy.

“And there is one more thing…um, a magic investigator found that there were traces of the founders magic from after the meteor drop.”

The world seemed to grow eerily silent. Every corner of the castle darkened and the flames that lit the torches immediately extinguished.

He lowered his gaze from the Queens back as his heart pounded through his chest.

A light grinding sound filled his ears when what sounded like a massive tree snapping exploded into the surroundings.

He glanced to the side.

Where a yard thick stone wall once separated one of the guest rooms from the hall was now empty space. The rubble that should have been left was nowhere to be seen.

It was just missing.

The massive round hole had perfectly clean edges that looked unnatural to his untrained eye.

“Those Embermount bastards! Gurrrargh! Shitters!” She took a deep breath, calming her furious tone. “Thank you for telling me how incompetent everyone is. Make sure you have someone fix my little outburst.”

She continued on her walk, leaving the speechless man with a wet spot between his legs and a warm puddle at his feet.